Recently, news of local establishments such as BreadTalk charging customers for plastic carriers has made rounds online, much to the frustration of many.
The latest to come to the fore for similar reasons is footwear company Skechers.
A customer who patronised the VivoCity outlet claimed that she was charged S$0.50 for a carrier bag without being informed beforehand.
Yesterday (7 April), a Facebook user took to the Complaint Singapore group to share her experience with a carrier charge at the Skechers outlet at VivoCity.
In the post, she said that she had purchased two pairs of shoes at the outlet.
Source: Facebook
When she checked the receipt upon returning home, the customer realised that she had been charged S$0.50 for the fabric bag used to carry the shoeboxes.
Source: Facebook
Alleging that the staff didn’t inform her of the charge beforehand, the customer dubbed the incident a “[daylight] robbery”.
“Has the paying-for-bags exercise gone too far?” she lamented.
Source: Facebook
She also wrote that had she known about the charge earlier, she could have decided whether or not to get the bag or make the purchase at all.
In response to the post, one Facebook user agreed that the outlet should have informed customers of the charge, such as through a notice.
Additionally, he urged buyers to do their due diligence by checking their bills before paying.
Source: Facebook
Meanwhile, some others pointed out that the outlet should not have charged for the carrier as it was not made of plastic.
Source: Facebook
In particular, one commenter said that retailers shouldn’t impose charges for carriers that bear store logos.
She also called for the authorities to enforce regulations for retailers using eco-friendly carriers. According to her, only supermarkets with a determined turnover rate should be allowed to impose the additional bag fee.
Source: Facebook
In July last year, all large local supermarket operators began charging a minimum of S$0.05 per plastic bag.
However, there is no such rule for retailers.
Replying to queries by MS News, a Skechers spokesperson said that tent cards are placed at the store’s payment counter to inform customers of additional charges for carrier bags.
This has been the case since the initiative was implemented on 1 Feb this year.
Image courtesy of Skechers
The tent card states that this is part of a move “to create a more sustainable future”.
It also encourages customers to reuse the carrier bags the next time they make a purchase.
“The cashier would also inform all customers verbally before payment,” the spokesperson added. “This customer was aware of the $0.50 charge as she was informed by the staff before payment. Skechers is contacting the customer for recovery for this feedback.”
Also read: Dismay after BreadTalk S’pore imposes S$0.10 plastic bag charge
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Featured image adapted from Facebook.
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